Senators Cassidy and Durbin Urge Bipartisan Process to Save Social Security

Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) published an op-ed in The Washington Examiner today urging Congress to consider a new, bipartisan process to kickstart Social Security solvency discussions.

In less than six years, in late 2032, the Social Security retirement fund is projected to go insolvent, at which point retirees will face a deep and abrupt 22% benefit cut. If a similar cut were imposed on beneficiaries today, retirees would lose $500 in benefits per retiree per month, more than the average retired household spends on groceries each month.

In their piece, Senators Cassidy and Durbin recognize this problem and discuss the barriers to reform:

There is no shortage of ideas for strengthening Social Security. Some would adjust benefits, others would raise revenues, and still others would seek to grow the resources available to the program. Reasonable people can disagree about the best approach. What is indefensible is refusing to debate seriously any approach at all while the program moves closer to insolvency. Congress does not lack the proposals; it lacks the willingness to consider them. 

Currently, a bill to establish a process for reviewing proposals is being considered, but even setting up a process to consider proposals has opposition! If Congress will not even allow a bipartisan discussion about preventing an automatic reduction in Social Security benefits, then what exactly is the plan? Hoping the problem disappears is not a plan. Waiting until the trust fund approaches insolvency is not a plan. Telling Americans that the issue is too politically difficult to discuss is certainly not a plan.

Senator Cassidy and Senator Durbin are among the thoughtful lawmakers proposing a plan to begin Social Security solvency discussions. Their newly introduced bill, the PROMISE Act, would direct the bipartisan Social Security Advisory Board to submit a base bill providing at least 50 years of solvency. The Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee could hold hearings and amend the proposal. If they did not report it, the bill would be discharged for floor consideration, where Members could offer substitute amendments that also achieve at least 50 years of solvency.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s Marc Goldwein recently testified before the Senate Finance Committee to support this type of approach. Bipartisan boards, councils, and commissions have been behind every major piece of Social Security legislation since the program was first created in 1935 following recommendations from Labor Secretary Frances Perkins’ Committee on Economic Security. Since then, Congress has established hundreds of commissions, advisory councils, and other groups focused on everything from consumer product safety to planning the future of civilian space programs, each of which succeeded in its own way.

Bipartisan commissions are thoughtful process reforms that ultimately would unlock benefits above and beyond sparking bipartisan conversation. As Senators Cassidy and Durbin remark in their closing:

History is not going to remember whether Congress voted on a bill merely to set up a process by which to consider a solution. It will remember whether Congress acted before retirees faced unnecessary reductions to the benefits on which they depend. When benefits are cut, no member of Congress will be able to say they didn’t see it coming. They will only have to explain why they chose not to act in a timely, thoughtful way.

The Senators are exactly right. Policymakers should begin the work of enacting thoughtful trust fund solutions today.